Mike Francesa’s competition is treating him the same way the WFAN host treats his callers.

Several national radio hosts have taken digs at Francesa over his blunders that became instant Internet fodder. The most famous Francesa blooper of recent vintage is when he fell asleep during an interview with Yankees reporter Sweeny Murti in September 2012.

This was almost two years ago, and people are still having fun with it. His former partner Chris “Mad Dog” Russo was the latest. Russo was interviewing Murti earlier in the week on MLB Network’s “High Heat” and took this dig at Francesa.

Before that it was Paul Finebaum, who is essentially the Mike Francesa of the South and is going to be one of the faces of ESPN’s SEC Network. In an interview with SI.com last month, Finebaum took an unprovoked shot at Francesa.

“I never like to make guarantees, but one thing I won’t do is fall asleep while doing the show,” Finebaum told the website.

His lack of knowledge about soccer was evident during the World Cup when he asked St. John’s coach Dave Masur if players “kick with both legs.” This was obviously heresy for the diehards who follow the sport for more than one month every four years.

Does Francesa deserve the criticism?

This criticism of Francesa concerning his lack of knowledge about soccer players using both legs is misguided. It's made to sound as if Francesa is ignorant to the fact that soccer players are ALLOWED to use both legs at any and all times during the game. Clearly Mike's question concerned how many players on a scoring attempt can use either leg, i.e. are most soccer players "switch hitters" when it comes to trying to score a goal. Mike may be somewhat ignorant of the fact that many pro soccer players have the ability to use both the left and right leg in an equally effective manner when it comes to taking a shot. Meaning they don't necessarily have a dominant foot. This is not a completely uninformed question. There may very well be players who have a "dominant" leg. And Francesa used the word "dominant" in asking the question. It's like asking if a basketball player has a dominant dribbling hand. There probably are players who dribble better with one hand than the other. In the same fashion there are probably some soccer players who have a stronger leg, i.e. a more dominant leg when it comes to attempting a shot on goal. Where Francesa is ignorant is that he isn't aware that the large majority of pro soccer players are very effective in kicking the ball for a goal with either leg. It's similar as well to the idea that some players in pro baseball are switch hitters. In baseball however, there are a limited number of switch hitters, even on the pro level, compared to soccer where probably just about every player has comparable dexterity and power when attempting a shot on goal. The critics here are trying to imply that Francesa is of the belief that pro soccer players aren't allowed or are unable to use both legs to shoot for a goal when his actual question is whether or not most players have a dominant leg for shooting (i.e. do they have a stronger shot with one leg than the other?). In this regard his critics are misunderstanding his question, and thus making a faulty assumption. He may be ignorant to a significant degree about soccer, which he will admit, but their characterization in this specific case is both inaccurate and faulty.

Francesa is a typical sports reporter- they all think they're right. Ask him if he remembers my phone call the day after Mike Tyson fired Kevin Rooney? Ask him what I told him would happen to Tyson. Ask him if he remembers how he and Ed Coleman laughed at me when I said Tyson was going to lose soon- maybe not his next fight, but very very soon. Ask him what happened to Tyson 3 fights later. Yeah Mike, you're such the Big Dog.

Let's see, in sports radio Francesa is impossible to like or listen to, Cowherd gets politically and socially pedantic leading to endless lectures that include boasting and back-patting, SVP is enjoyable but rarely on the air anymore. The best "listen" is Steve Somers as he's unfailingly polite, humble, entertaining and knowledgeable.

I've never liked Francesa, but I spent eleven long years in Birmingham, AL and saw Finebaum first hand, he is the lowest of low. A pot stirring coward who baits his interview subjects and never confronts them face to face. How he got an ESPN gig is mind boggling. A baldheaded pencil necked geek.

Of course he doesn't deserve the criticism but anyone doing what he does for as long as he's done it...oh yeah, no one else has been doing it for as long as he has...is open to criticism. He's not perfect but he's the best listen on sports talk radio in the country. New Yorkers are so spoiled by having had the first full time sports talk radio station in the U.S.. They created the genre and set the standards for the rest of the country. Mike has been there as the leading voice since day 1. Try listening to sports talk outside NY and you will hear a collection of empty suits like Dan Patrick, kitschy clowns like Jim Rome, blowhards such as Colin Cowherd or outright morons like Joe Rose in Miami. Today, with streaming internet you can hear Mike anywhere you are but before that, if you were stuck outside of NY and wanted to hear intelligent sports talk you were in deep trouble. Thank the radio gods that Mike Francesa is still around doing his thing; it'll be a much poorer day for sports fans when he's gone!

@John Creighton Francesa has been there a long time, but not "the leading voice since day 1," as you say. His present time slot was first filled by Pete Franklin and the station's leading voices at the beginning were probably Greg Gumbel and Jim Lampley.

Its pretty obvious who actually listens to his show and who doesn't. No, he doesn't pretend to know about sports that he doesn't know, unlike Russo. However, his knowledge field is hardly limited. He is an unabashed Giant fan who openly rooted for them even though he didn't think they were going to win. Most people didn't pick the Giants to win those Super Bowls. Its just silly to need to hear your local radio host pick a team he or she thinks will lose because its the home team. Sports fans act like little children.

By the way, during the Rangers' playoff run, he had many guests who discussed the run and they were featured on the show.

Sorry if your butt hurt that he hung up on you. Thank God he hangs up on idiots.

This guy doesn't talk about anything out of the box. He never will talk about hockey never about soccer. A new york hockey team is in the Stanley cup finals (hardest championship to win in all American leagued sports.) and he's talking about boxing and OTB. He never picks New york teams to do anything. Picked against the Giants in both their winning Superbowl's. I think you should pick the new york teams if New York is where your bread is buttered. If you don't believe they'll win, say the New York team will will in a squeaker. He is rude to people if they don't ask a question in his knowledge field which is limited. He really just is not nice to listen to especially when you are coming home from work and had to deal with a couple of rude people there that day.

Please, the fan lost me long ago. He doesn't talk about whats significant, he talks about what he knows which not always is significant and is often incorrect.